Apparatus for safe collection, delivery, and transporation of valuables



L. B. LOVE Feb. 24, 1942.

APPARATUS FOR SAFE COLLECTION, DELIVERY, AND TRANSPORTATION OF VALUABLESFiled July 2, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l 2 m ml w A W 5 Feb. 24, 1942. L. B.LOVE 2,273,971

APPARATUS FOR SAFE COLLECTION, DELIVERY, AND TRANSPORTATION OF VALUABLESFiled July 2, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 6- FIG. 2

A EQ/VAkD A5. L 0 1 5.

. INVENTOR.

A B V ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 24, 1942 APPARATUS FOR SAFE COLLECTION, DE-

LIVERY, AND TRANSPORTATION OF "AL- UABLES Leonard B. Love, New York, N.Y. Application July 2, 1938, Serial No. 217,163

Claim.

This invention relates to apparatus for safe collection, delivery andtransportation of valuables and is adapted for the collection anddelivery of currency, jewelry, securities, mail, and bullion to and frombanking and commercial institutions, post-ofiices, express ofiices,railway cars and the like. The present application is a continuation inpart of my application for Letters Patent of the United States, Ser. No.129,288, filed March 5, 1937, and in connection with which a completevehicle of the type referred to herein is described and which maturedinto Patent No. 2,185,209 issued January 2, 1940.

The present invention has for one of its features an arrangement of theduplex safe or chamber of the previous application within the vehiclebody or other enclosure in such a manner as to facilitate collection anddelivery with adequate protection by firearms during such operations.

In the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a transverse section through the side wall and floor of avehicle body or other enclosure in which the duplex safe or compartmenthas been embodied.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation exteriorly showing the collection anddelivery door in the open position.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in section from within the body orother enclosure showing the safe closures in partially open condition.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the gas bomb release opening.

Fig. 5 is a detail plan slide.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan from within the vehicle body or otherenclosures showing the safety gun mounting and observation window.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a plan view exteriorly of the vehicle body or other enclosureof that portion of the side wall containing a safety gun mounting.

Fig. 9 is a sectional side elevation on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

Fig, 10 is a sectional view on the line Ill-10 of Fig. 8.

In detail:

The side wall of a vehicle body or other enclosure of armor plate isindicated at 60, while the floor of the same is shown at El; this sidewall is provided with an opening 62 for purposes to be hereinafter setforth. The duplex safe unit is comprised of the side wall 60 of thevehicle body or other enclosure, the bottom or view of a portion of thefloor 6| thereof, a back wall 63, a top wall 64 and opposite side walls;the top wall 64 is inclined upwardly with respect to the floor. Withinthe interior of the duplex safe unit thus formed are two chambers C andD, as in the case of my previously filed application hereinbeforereferred to. These chambers are formed, or provided, by inclinedpartitions of armor plate as indicated at 65 and 66 mounted in anysuitablemanner. The partition '65 in addition to being inclined isconcaved as shown clearly in Fig. 2, and is provided with guideways 61in which there slides, over an opening 68, the closure member 69 whichis movable in the guideways 61 to open or close the aperture 68 in thepartition 65. This closure member 69 has a handhole 10 cut therethroughin which the hand may be inserted for opening or closing the closurewith respect to the opening 68 which it serves and which, at the sametime, provides a slot through which envelopes or other small packagesmay be inserted into the lower compartment D; large packages are placedin the lower compartment by opening the closure member 69. On theunderside of the diagonal partition 65 is a dependent guard II with a.hinged lower portion II the purpose of which will be later set forth.

As stated, the bottom 66 of the lower compartment D is also inclined sothat packages or other material inserted through the openings 68 and '10will travel by gravity to the rear of the lower compartment. At the rearof the lower compartment and directly above the opening 12 is a trapdoor 12 spring-hinged as at 13 so that it may move downwardy against thestop 14, but is locked in an upward position by a spring actuated detentl5 engaging under a stop I6, the spring 11 servingto always maintain thelatch in a closed position until released by manual pressure against thelever 18.

The rear partition 63 of the duplex safe unit has an opening which isclosed by the door 19 having side pieces which are shaped to engage therear wall 63 and limit the extent of movement of the door I9. A suitablelatch 8| at the top and spring operated, closing and releasing by thelever 82 engages under a lug 83 so as to maintain this door in theclosed position.

In the upper wall or top of the compartment C is a frame mounting anobservation window 9| which is in a position so as to command a view ofoperations through the outside opening 62 in the side wall 60 of thevehicle body or other suitable enclosure. This opening 62 is closed by adoor 93 hinged as at 94 and having side shields 95 which have limitstops 99 and handle 99', for opening and closing the door 93 from insideof vehicle body. .These side shields pass through slots in the flangeson the side walls of the safe so as to permit the complete closing ofthe outside access door 93 which has in its upper edge a socket 91 whichis engaged, when the door is closed, by a bolt 99 operating in aghideway 99 on the interior side of the outside wall 60 and which isheld under tension in'its downward position by a spring 92 so that oncethe outside access door 93 is pushed to the closed position it becomeslocked and may only be opened from within the interior of the vehiclebody or other enclosure by the driver or occupant raising the boltthrough the medium of the handle I00.

This handle I00 is positioned adjacent the observation window 9| so thatat all times when the access door is open the driver of the vehiclesequently no bullets could ricochet upwardly into the interior of thevehicle body. Likewise the same is true of the relationship between theoutside access door 93 and the aperture which it closes and the insideaccess door 91 of the upper compartment C. At the same time the gunportopening 89 is positioned so that when the access door 81 to the uppercompartment 0 is opened it aflfords a shield for the party within 'thevehicle in the event that he wishes to cover someone outside the vehiclebody through gunport 89.

At this point it is to be noted that due to the side shields 95 on theoutside access door 93 any party unauthorizedly approaching the vehiclewith the object of seizing any valuables placed on the access door 93which forms a shelf in its open position, would necessarily be withinrange of the gunport 99 and at the same time would stand at a fairdistance from the side wall of the vehicle body, the access door 93being of considerable dimension, say of the order of 12 inches.

Embodied within the side wall 90 of the enclosure and centrally abovethe access door 93 is a safety gun mounting. This gun mounting isconstituted of an inside and outside frame member I M and I02respectively, which serve to frame a circular aperture I03 in the sidewall 60, and each of which is an annulus having a spherically curvedinner surface which mounts the universally movable sphere I04. Inaddition the inside frame member IOI is so shaped or slotted as at I05to accommodate the lower edge of an observation window I09 closing anaperture I01, an upper frame member I09 acting as the top support.

' the outside opening is smaller than latch III mounted in a lock casingIII at the opposite side of the door from the spring-hinge III maintainsthe door in the closed position until actually opened by depressing themember I I 8. This lock may be of any suitable commercial construction.

Within the socket created by the frame members IM and I02 is the sphereI04 which, as will be obvious, is universally movable. Centrally of thesphere I04 is a door II9 counterbored back from its outer end toaccurately accommodate,

without more than necessary clearance, the

barrel I20 of a pistol E. Pistols of this type have a tapered barrel andthis counterbore is also tapered so that when the end of the barrel isfirmly positioned up to its limit at the end of the counterbore, asindicated at I2I, the barrel is held firmly in position without any playand thus becomes rigid with the sphere I04. A sight slot I22 milled asshown accommodates the-base I23 of the forward sight I24 on the pistolbarrel and is surmounted by a transverse milled sight opening I25 ofonly sumcient width and height to permit proper use of the sight, anextension I26 aligning with the milled slot I22, forming a cross throughwhich the eye may obtain a proper sight along the barrel and the forwardsight opening. The sides of the slot I22 are on a taper so that themovement of the gun barrel I20 into its final position brings the pistolinto vertical alignment and thus, when seated, the sight I24 form adivision of the horizontal sight opening I25 into right and left handslots with a vertical slot above. The door in the sphere I04 is relievedat the bottom as indicated at I21 to provide for the elector rod of therevolver. It is also to be noted that the top surface of the transversesight slot I25 is on an angle towards the outside so that the insideopening.

It is to be noted that with the pistol in the position shown in Fig. 9,with the end of the pistol barrel against the counterbore I2 I, the wallof the door I I9 in the sphere I04 protects the end of the pistol barrelfrom damage in case of a direct hit by a projectile from the outside,and thus the pistol remains undamaged.

The location of the safetygun mounting and its dimensions are such thatthe range of movement of the pistol will take in the greatest possibleamount of side swing giving a maximum range, and at the same time it maybe elevated as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 9. The degree of elevationwhich the pistol may have is such that the user has within his range anyperson standing at the end of the outside access door 93 when the sameis open, it always being necessary on account of th side guards 95 thata person unauthorizedly trying to obtain something from the shelf formedby the outside access door 93, or from within the compartment C or D,must stand at the front of this door where he necessarily comes withinrange of the pistol E when moved to its uppermost position. The sphereI04 and its machining is such that it will fit the standard weaponsadopted by those operating the vehicle. The present Colt Police Special"has, for instance, a four inch barrel which the ings therethrough are atsuch an angle that no moisture from rain or otherwise enters theseopenings. Preferably the sphere and its frame members are made ofstainless steel so that no rust accumulates to interfere with theaccurate fit of the pistol barrel within the bore and guides of thesphere I04, other parts of the walls and frames, and so forth, may beconstructed of armor plate or steel of suitable thickness orspecification.

The sphere I04 carries, concentric with the opening H9, a raised portionI29 above the surface of the sphere I04 so that under no circumstancescan thesphere I04 be moved to a position where it will be inaccessiblefor entrance of the pistol E into position.

a While, in the foregoing "I have described the invention as illustratedherein for the purpose of satisfying the patent statutes, it is,nevertheless, to be understood that in carrying the same into practice Imay resort to any and all modifications falling within the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a vehicle body having armored walls and a floor, a safe against awall of said body, a diagonal partition dividing said safe into upperand lower compartments, and sloping toward the wall of the vehicle, adoor through the body wall afi'ording access to the upper compartment, adoor in the partition affording access to the lower compartment, a doorin the upper wall of said safe within the body providing access to theupper compartment and shielding the operator from gun fire directedthrough the body wall door, a door within the vehicle to the lowercompartment, and an observation window closing an opening in the topwall of the safe at a location providing a view of the upper compartmentand its body wall door from within the body, the door of the uppercompartment having an opening therein whereby gunfire may be directedfrom within the vehicle body toward the body wall door.

2. In a vehicle body having armored walls and a floor, a safe against awall of said body, a diagonal partition dividing said safe into upperand lower compartments, and sloping toward the wall/ of the vehicle, adoor through the body wall affording access to the upper compartment, 2.door in the partition affording access to the lower compartment, a doorwithin the body providing access to the upper compartment and shieldingthe operator from gun fire directed through the body wall door, a doorwithin the vehicle to the lower compartment, an observation windowframed in the top wall of the safe to provide a view from within thevehicle body to the upper compartment, the door of the upper compartmenthaving an opening therein whereby gun fire may be directed from withinthe vehicle body toward the body wall door, and a dependent shield fromthe diagonal partition extending into the lower compartment.

3. In a vehicle body having armored walls and a floor, a safe against awall of said body, a diagonal partition dividing said safe into upperand lower compartments, and sloping toward the wall of the vehicle, adoor through the body wall affording access to the upper compartment, adoor in the partition affording access to the lower compartment, a doorwithin the body providing access to the upper compartment and shieldingthe operator from gun fire directed through the body wall door, a doorwithin the vehicle to the lower compartment, an observation windowframed in the top wall of the safe to provide a view from within thevehicle body to the upper compartment, the door of the upper compartmenthaving an opening therein whereby gun fire may be directed from withinthe 'vehicle body toward the body wall door, and a dependent shield fromthe diagonal portion extending into the lower compartment and having ahinged lower portion.

4. In a vehicle body having armored walls and a floor, a safe against awall of said body, a diagonal partition dividing said safe into upperand lower compartments, and sloping toward the wall of the vehicle, adoor through the body wall afiording access to the upper compartment, adoor in the partition affording access to the lower compartment, a doorwithin the body providing access to the upper compartment and shieldingthe operator from gun fire directed through the body wall door, a doorwithin the vehicle to the lower compartment, an observation windowframed in the top wall of the safe to provide a view from within thevehicle body to the upper compartment, the door of the upper compartmenthaving an opening therein whereby gun fire may be directed from withinthe vehicle body toward the body wall door, and a bomb trap door in thelower compartment.

5. In a vehicle body having armored walls and a floor, a safe against awall of said body, a diagonal partition dividing said safe into upperand lower compartments, and sloping toward the wall of the vehicle, adoor through the body wall affording access to the upper compartment, adoor in the partition affording access to the lower compartment, a doorwithin the body providing access to the upper compartment and shieldingthe operator from gun fire directed through the body wall door, a doorwithin the vehicle to the lower compartment, framed in the top wall ofthe safe to provide a view from within the vehicle body to the uppercompartment, and the door of the upper compartment having an openingtherein whereby gun fire may be directed from within the vehicle bodytoward the body wall door, and a bomb trap door, the bottom of saidlower compartment being shaped to guide bombs to said trap door.

LEONARD B. LOVE.

an observation window

